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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2003 Oracle Extends Bid, Support Weakens Norwegian Appeals Court Upholds Acquittal EU Feud over Sharing Traveler Info with U.S. ORACLE EXTENDS BID, SUPPORT WEAKENS Oracle has once again extended its takeover bid for PeopleSoft, despite an apparent decline in interest among PeopleSoft shareholders to turn in their shares. So far, three percent of PeopleSoft shares have been tendered, which is fewer than had been tendered in October. Officials from PeopleSoft attributed the decline to shareholders' belief that the deal is not in their best interests. The PeopleSoft Board of Directors has been working to defeat the takeover since it was initially announced. An Oracle spokesperson said the company was not concerned by the low numbers of shares tendered so far, saying that shareholders will be cautious until regulatory hurdles are cleared. The takeover is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission. The new deadline from Oracle is February 13, 2004. Internet News, 22 December 2003 http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3291781 NORWEGIAN APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS ACQUITTAL A Norwegian appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling acquitting Jon Johansen of copyright violations. The seven-judge panel agreed unanimously that Johansen did not violate copyright laws of Norway when he broke the encryption for DVDs and then posted his code on the Internet for others to use. Johansen had argued that he broke the copy-protection mechanism so he could make copies of DVDs that he legitimately bought. Representatives of the U.S. movie industry, who had sought the prosecution against Johansen, decried the verdict, saying that although it only applies in Norway, it will likely encourage others around the world to circumvent copy protections. The appeals court ruled that under Norwegian law, circumventing such protections to make personal copies of legally purchased DVDs is acceptable, even more so than making copies of a book would be since DVDs can become scratched an unusable. Prosecutors have two weeks to decide if they will appeal the case to Norway's supreme court. Reuters, 22 December 2003 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=4032179 EU FEUD OVER SHARING TRAVELER INFO WITH U.S. Some members of the European Parliament have raised objections to a ruling by the European Commission that allows member countries to share personal information about international travelers with the United States. The European Commission said it was able to negotiate sufficient compromises with officials in the United States that the transfer of sensitive information would be permitted, despite EU laws that explicitly prohibit such actions. Included in the compromised proposal are provisions that reduce the amount of information transferred about each traveler, reduce the amount of time the information will be kept, and prevent using the information for domestic law enforcement. Those in the European Parliament objecting to the agreement noted "that the transfer is without the consent of the passengers, that the transfer in itself is illegal according to EU data-protection laws, and that the U.S. has no proper data-protection laws nor a fully independent data-protection officer." Wired News, 22 December 2003 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,61680,00.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. For information on EDUCAUSE publications see http://www.educause.edu/pub/ ***************************************************** CONFERENCES For information on all EDUCAUSE learning and networking opportunities, see http://www.educause.edu/conference/ ***************************************************** COPYRIGHT Edupage copyright (c) 2003, EDUCAUSE
